Christmas tree ornament having suspending support



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CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENT HAVING SUSPENDING SUPPORT Filed June 11., 1954IN V EN TOR. .Jzyeib Pajama,

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United States Patent CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENT HAVING SUSPENDIN G SUPPORTAngelo Paione, Short Hills, N. .1.

Application June 11, 1954, Serial No. 436,115

2 Claims. (Cl. 41-10) This invention relates to improvements inChristmas tree ornaments; and the invention has reference, moreparticularly, to means in combination with a Christmas tree ball or likeornament of the hollow glass type for supporting and attaching the ballor the like in suspension from a branch of a tree to be decoratedthereby.

The invention has for an object to provide a simple and inexpensiveone-piece supporting and suspending means for a Christmas treedecorating ball or like ornament which is formed from a single length ofwire or metallic or other suitable strip material; the formation havingat its lower end a coupling member which is engageable with the ball orthe like through the upper open end or neck thereof, and having at itsupper end an exteriorly projecting attachment hook, which is opera tivein use to suspend the ball or the like from a tree branch; the couplingmeans being laterally compressible for entrance thereof through the openend or neck of the ball or the like, and being provided at its oppositesides with laterally projecting shoulder portions which, upon expansionof the coupling means after insertion into the interior of the ball orthe like, will supportingly en' age with portions of the latter wherebyto support the same; said coupling means further including external stopportions operative to limit inward movement thereof into the interior ofthe ball or the like, as well as to maintain the same in axial alignmentwith said ball or the like.

The above and other objects will be understood from a reading of thefollowing detailed description of this invention in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is an elevational view of one form of the Christmas tree ball orlike ornament equipped with a one piece supporting and suspending meansaccording to this invention; and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal verticalsectional view of the same, the supporting and suspending means beingshown in elevation.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of another form of Christmas tree ball orlike ornament also equipped with a onepiece supporting and suspendingmeans according to this invention; and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal verticalsectional view of the same with the supporting and suspending meansshown in elevation.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the drawings to indicatecorresponding parts.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the referencecharacter indicates the body of a Christmas ball or the like of thehollow glass type, the body shape and ornamentation of which can bevaried as may be desired. Projecting axially from the top end of thehollow body 10 is a neck portion 11 which provides an endwise openpassage 12 leading into the interior of said body. The outer freemarginal edge of said neck portion 11 is thickened to provide aninternal annular bead 13 which reenforces the same, and which obviatesnecessity for use of a metallic ferrule or cap that ordinarily isapplied to the free end of a Christmas ball neck portion,

2,719,374 Patented Oct. 4, 1955 ice although application of such ferruleor cap to the neck portion 11 is not precluded if use thereof isdesired.

In accordance with this invention, coupled to the hollow body 10 of theabove described form of Christmas ball or the like is a one-piecesupporting and suspending means, the same being formed from a singlelength of wire or metallic or other strip material. The lower endportion of said length of wire or the like is doubled upon itself into asubstantially V-shaped coupler portion comprising upwardly divergentresilient legs 14 and 15. Said legs respectively terminate in inwardlybowed portions 16 and 17, which form at the junctures thereof with saidlegs external supporting shoulders 18 and 19. Extending divergentlyoutward from said respective bowed portions 16 and :l/ are external stoparms 20 and 21. The bowed portions respectively provide outwardly openseats 22 and 23 which indent the opposite sides of the coupler portionintermediate said supporting shoulders and said stop arms. Projectinginwardly from one of the stop arms, e. the stop arm 20, is an offsettingsection 24 from which extends the upwardly directed shank 25 of asuspension hook 26.

To operatively assemble the above described supporting and suspendingmeans with the Christmas tree ball or the like, the resilient legs 14and 15 of the V-shaped coupler portion of the former, which aretensionally inwardly yieldable, are forced one toward the other, wherebyto retract the supporting shoulders 18 and 19 so that the same can passthe internal bead 13 of the ball neck portion 11, when the couplerportion is entered into the ball interior through the axial passage 12of said neck portion. Such inward movement of the coupler portionarrested by engagement of the stop arms 20 and 21 with the end of theball neck portion 11. When the entering movement of the coupler portionis thus arrested, the seats 22 and 23 will be disposed in opposition todiametrically opposite portions of the bead 13 of the neck portion 11,so that upon release of the resilient legs 14 and 15, the latter willexpand, thus causing said seats 22 and 23 to embrace said bead 13, andthe supporting shoulders 18 and 19 to engage beneath said bead. Underthese conditions, the coupler portion interlocks with the Christmas treeball or the like, so that the latter is carried by the supporting andsuspending means, with the suspension hook 26 freely extending from thetop of the ball or the like, ready to be hooked over a branch of a treefrom which said ball or the like is desired to be suspended.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, a Christmas tree ball or like ornamenthaving a conventional neck portion is shown equipped with the one-piecesupporting and suspending means according to this invention, the latterbeing somewhat modified to accommodate it to this type of ball or thelike. In this case, the body ll) of the ball or the like is providedwith a tubular neck portion 11 which provides the endwise open passage12, said neck portion being of uniform thickness from end to end, theinternal bead 13 of the previously described ball structure beingomitted. In the instant type of ball structure, it is usual to applyover the free end of the neck portion 11 a metallic ferrule or cap 27,having an opening or slot 28 in its end wall. The one-piece supportingand suspending means, although modified to accommodate the same to theinstant type of ball structure, is nevertheless of the same general formand construction already above described, and comprises the V-shapedcoupler portion formed by the upwardly divergent resilient legs 14 and15. In this case, said legs terminate in inwardly bowed portions 16 and17' of an increased length corresponding to the length of the neckportion 11 of the ball or the like. Said bowed portions 16 and 17 at thejunctures thereof with the legs 14 and 15, form external supportingshoulders 18 and 19, and extending divergently outward from saidrespective bowed portions 16' and 17 are external stop arms 20 and 21.Said bowed portions 16 and 17 respectively provide outwardly open seats22 and 23' which indent opposite sides of the coupler portionintermediate said supporting shoulders and said stop arms. Projectinginwardly from one of the stop arms, e. g. the stop arm 20, is anoffsetting section 24 from which extends the upwardly directed shank 25of a suspension hook 26.

The said modified supporting and suspension means is assembled with theball structure of Figs. 3 and 4 by laterally compressing the V-shapedcoupler portion so as to retract the supporting shoulders 18 and 19 forpassage through the slot 28 of the ferrule or cap 27, and thenceinwardly through the passage 12 of the neck portion 11, until suchinserting movement is arrested by abutment of the stop arms 19 and 20against the ferrule or cap 27. When the entering movement of the couplerportion is thus arrested, the seats 22 and 23 will be disposed inopposition to opposite sides of the wall of the neck por tion 11, sothat upon release of the resilient legs or arms 14 and 15, the latterwill expand, thus causing said seats to embrace the neck portion 11, andthe supporting shoulders 18 and 19 to engage beneath the internalshoulders 29 formed by the juncture of said neck portion with the body10 of the ball or the like. Under these conditions, the coupler portioninterlocks with the ball orthe like, so that the latter is carried bythe supporting and suspending means, with the suspension hook 26 freelyextending from the top of the ball or the like, ready to be hooked overa branch of a tree from which said ball or the like is desired to besuspended.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. A one-piece supporting and suspending device for a hollow Christmastree ornament having an external tubular neck axially projectingtherefrom, said device comprising a single length of wire having itslower end part bent to form an upwardly open V-shaped coupler portionand its upper part bent to form a downwardly open suspension hook'disposed in axially aligned relation to said coupler portion, saidV-shaped coupler portion providing divergent resilient arms adapted toyield inwardly when the coupler portion is thrust downwardly into theornament neck, said resilient arms each terminating in indented portionsto provide outwardly open seats which, under tensional reaction of saidarms, are adaptedto respectively supportingly engage opposite innersides of the ornament neck when said coupler portion is insertedtherein, and an elongated shank portion connecting the suspension hookwith one side of the coupler portion.

2. A Christmas tree ornament comprising a hollow body having an externaltubular neck axially projecting therefrom, said neck having aninternally projecting annular bead within its interior, a supporting andsuspending device comprising a single length of wire having its lowerend part bent to form an upwardly open V-shaped coupler portion and itsupper part bent to form a down- :ardly open suspension hook disposed inaxially aligned relation to said coupler portion, said V-shaped couplerportion providing divergent resilient arms adapted to yield inwardlywhen the coupler portion is thrust downwardly into the ornament neck,said resilient arms each terminating in indented portions to provideoutwardly open seats which, under tensional reaction of said arms, areadapted to receive and embrace said internal head of the ornament neckwhen the coupler portion is inserted in said neck, and an elongatedshank portion connecting the suspension hook with one side of thecoupler portion.

Jones Jan. 12, 1932 Groothedde Aug. 24, 1943

